Man May Get Death In Daughter`s Killing

COOK COUNTY — The Markham courthouse jury that convicted a Calumet City man of murdering his 10-week-old daughter by shaking her to death will decide Monday if he should be sentenced to death.

Rayfield Austin, 33, who served 9 years in a Michigan prison for a 1977 murder of a woman, was found guilty Saturday of killing the infant, Raechel. The incident took place Dec. 22, 1989. An autopsy by the Cook County medical examiner found numerous rib fractures and severe internal bleeding.

Assistant State`s Atty. Neil Linehan, who prosecuted the case with Colleen Hyland, introduced statements Austin made to authorities in which he admitted shaking the child while he was baby-sitting.

The jury deliberated 10 hours over a two-day span before returning a guilty verdict.